The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired 28-year-old first baseman John Nogowski from the St Louis Cardinals for cash considerations. Nogowski was designated for assignment on June 28th. To make room on the 40-man roster, Geoff Hartlieb has been designated for assignment. They will need to make a move to make room on the 26-man roster when Nogowski joins the team. The Pirates also placed Ka’ai Tom on the injured list with a lower back strain and recalled relief pitcher Kyle Keller to take his place.
Nogowski made his MLB debut last year, playing one game for the Cardinals. He played 19 games this season in the majors, going 1-for-18 with a single, walk and hit-by-pitch. In the minors this year, he hit .195 with a .601 OPS in 36 games at Triple-A. He’s a career .281/.370/.404 hitter in the minors since being drafted in the 34th round by the Oakland A’s in 2014.
Hartlieb allowed four runs in 4.2 innings with the Pirates this season.
Keller has allowed three runs in 3.1 innings with the Pirates this season. In Triple-A, he has a 1.96 ERA in 18.1 innings.
Tom is hitting .152/.308/.261 in 39 games with the Pirates.
